Metro Vancouver Has Best Chinese Food In the World???

[Stingray2004]

I have to admit that I am a Chinese food fanatic... have been ever since I was a kid.

Nevertheless, I am frankly surprised that upscale Condé Magazine has named Vancouver/Metro Vancouver as having the best Chinese food in the world!!

We do have fantastic Chinese food eateries all over Metro Vancouver, but the best in the world?

Isn't that akin to saying that Germany may have the best "Canadian' food (whatever that is) in the world? [Just kiddin']

Apparently, the Chinese food gold medal is due to our fresh ingredients and highly talented chefs.

Here's a portion of the Conde Naste article regarding same:

Canada Wins Chinese Gold

by Mark Schatzker | Published February 2010 | Condé Nast Traveler

Vancouver may be hosting the Winter Olympics, but it also seems to triumph in dumpling devouring. Over 38 meals in 12 restaurants, our indefatigable writer beholds the thrill of noodle pulling. (Warning: Don't read this on an empty stomach)

Forget about dumpling hunting in San Francisco. Cancel that pilgrimage to Flushing, Queens, for fish ball soup. If it's Chinese food you're after, pack your chopsticks for Vancouver—and say a silent thanks to geopolitics as your plane lands. It was 1997's repatriation of Hong Kong that began the mass influx of Chinese to British Columbia's lower mainland, a migration which continues to this day, fueled in part by Canada's immigrant-friendly policies. Today, almost one in five of Vancouver's two million residents is ethnically Chinese.

http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/...1?pageNumber=1

Look forward to your thoughts.

[Yume-sama]

I can attest to that I've never had better Chinese food than here.

Though, maybe I just picked really bad places in New York, Tokyo (well, actually the one I had in Tokyo was pretty good, but I've had better here), etc.

[SpongeG]

we do have some good places here - very lucky

[nova9]

Not surprising considering that it is common knowledge in our community that a lot of the premier chefs in Hong Kong had fled to Vancouver in fear of the '97 handover. They then had to train a whole new generation of apprentices here to support them and has been passed on and on. The chefs, however, have all gone back to Hong Kong where they've seen a resurgence of innovative and quality Chinese food.

[flight_from_kamakura]

lol, i'm sure china would have something to say about all this.

this magazine is being hyperbolic. the reality is that vancouver has some great joints, but i've also had some pretty damned good chinese food in los angeles, san jose, san francisco, new york, and toronto. alhambra alone blows richmond away (on volume, diversity and quality), and flushing is like nothing in canada. it also depends on what you like. try to find a great chongqing joint in vancouver, with the cold plates and all that, it's hard/impossible. i remember when yan yun went down (i.e. when it changed ownership in 2004), it was a year or so before i had another xia long bao worthy of the name - a year in a city with a reasonable number of shanghainese dumpling joints. moral of the story: lots of chinese folks = lots of great food, but "the best"?

[giallo]

Hmmmm. That's a pretty big claim.

I've been fortunate enough to eat Chinese food extensively for the past 7 years of my life (lived in Taiwan for three years, Shanghai for four) and I'm just not buying it.

Sure Vancouver has amazing Chinese food, but better than Taiwan (specifically Taipei and Tainan)? Better than Shanghai (the melting pot of all Chinese cultures and cuisines)?

I'll admit that I haven't been living in Vancouver for the last 7 years, so there's a big possibility that I've missed some new restaurants serving culinary masterpieces like pork and shrimp dumpling and sesame seed beef noodles with a Vancouver twist, but the best in the world? Maybe the best in North America or the best Chinese food outside of Asia (Singapore and Kuala Lumper are considered by many to have the best Chinese food outside of China).

I don't want to take away from this article, which will only help the amazing food scene in Vancouver, but its just too insane of a statement to pass on.

[Yume-sama]

Maybe, Vancouver has just as good of Chinese food as in China, and with the addition of health regulations = better

[NetMapel]

I don't know about this... it's pretty hard to top Taiwan when it comes to Chinese food.

[ozonemania]

I'll say one thing though, the food sources in Vancouver are really quite good. Fresh, locally grown ingredients make for better food, particularly in Cantonese-style cuisine (and the like). Simple dishes, like a simple fried kailan vegetable plate or a steamed fish, cooked to perfection, highlight the quality of the food source.

Vancouver has really good Chinese cuisine, yes. But one criticism I have is that it is fairly static. It hasn't really changed much since the 90s. At least compared to cuisine in Asia. For example Hong Kong's cuisine is much different than it was 10 years ago. Here, not so much.

For this reason I would also argue that there exists a Vancouverese-style Chinese food, which you can't really find anywhere else. It's sort of an evolution/fusion of HK 1997 food + Taishan (old Chinese immigrant) food styles, along with influences from pacific north west food and the local produce/ingredients.

I think what Vancouver needs, is more adventurous diners and more innovative chefs within the Chinese community. Consumers tend to demand more of the same but good quality and cheaper prices. Chefs will want to cater to this demand or go out of business. It really is the fault of consumers, they are so set in their ways that anything out of their normal expected experience they tend to label as bad and don't keep an open mind about it. Innovation in cuisine in say Hong Kong, Taiwan or Shanghai would not be received so poorly.

[Conrad Yablonski]

Consider the source-Conde Nast is in the business of selling mags to a rapidly diminishing readership and Vancouver is Flavour-of-the-Month for media hacks.

[nova9]

Originally Posted by NetMapel

I don't know about this... it's pretty hard to top Taiwan when it comes to Chinese food.

But predominantly in Taiwan (mostly Taipei) the food is representative only of Taiwanese style. I don't usually find good dim sum or northern chinese food there. Whereas in Hong Kong or Vancouver or Shanghai, I've had quite the pan-asian/chinese feast.

[whatnext]

I can believe it. There's so many to choose from across Metro. The only criticism I've heard is that its hard to find a good Hakka restaurant.

We're spoiled in Vancouver with a restaurant scene that's pretty vibrant for our size, with prices far less than in other major cities.

[Yume-sama]

So, what's your guys' favorite places? I have a couple of "Canadian" and "somewhat Authentic" places. I forget the name of the authentic place, but the "Canadian" style is over in North Van called Woon Lee Inn . Of course, they have "authentic Cantonese" but, give me some beef fried (or chicken for that matter) to hell and I'm there. Canadian style Chinese definitely beats American style Chinese!

[djmk]

Although, i have to admit chinese food does not agree with me, i must agree with whatnext. vancouverites are spoiled when it comes to restaurant quality.

this place is a foodie wet dream. I am particularly fond of out "westcoast fusion". the mix of all cultures, combined with really fresh food, brings out amazing tastes.

(actually (sorry guys) but i generally hate chinese food. my belly finds it too greasy and there are not enough fresh vegetables and salads. And i would rather eat my fingernails than dim sum)

[bils]

sure, vancouver is great - but i kinda take this with a grain of salt when a white guy is the judge of good chinese food.

[Yume-sama]

Originally Posted by djmk

Although, i have to admit chinese food does not agree with me, i must agree with whatnext. vancouverites are spoiled when it comes to restaurant quality.

this place is a foodie wet dream. I am particularly fond of out "westcoast fusion". the mix of all cultures, combined with really fresh food, brings out amazing tastes.

(actually (sorry guys) but i generally hate chinese food. my belly finds it too greasy and there are not enough fresh vegetables and salads. And i would rather eat my fingernails than dim sum)

Depends what your idea of Chinese food is. It is really fresh, non-fried, non-greasy food. Often with a fair amount of vegetables.

One restaurant downtown makes the best lettuce wraps. Fresh and crisp. And most of their dishes have fresh, non-fried veggies.

Canadian Chinese food is often deep-fried in sweet sticky sauces. And while I do love that, one shouldn't confuse it for actual Chinese cuisine.

Before I came to Vancouver that was all I knew, though

[red-paladin]

I think it's not so much that we have the best Chinese food in the world and no one else does. I think the point being put forward is that every different variety of Chinese food can be found in this city, and that if you wanted to match that, you couldn't go to one other city and find them all, you would have to travel all over the 'Sinosphere' to find them. Whether that is true, I don't know!

[PaperTiger]

I think the point was that we have really amazing chinese chefs that now have access to the very finest ingredients because they have moved to Vancouver. (Same holds true for other chefs as well, I know that when Warren Geraghty came from London to take over at west he was blown away by what he had to work with.)

[giallo]

Originally Posted by djmk

Although, i have to admit chinese food does not agree with me, i must agree with whatnext. vancouverites are spoiled when it comes to restaurant quality.

this place is a foodie wet dream. I am particularly fond of out "westcoast fusion". the mix of all cultures, combined with really fresh food, brings out amazing tastes.

(actually (sorry guys) but i generally hate chinese food. my belly finds it too greasy and there are not enough fresh vegetables and salads. And i would rather eat my fingernails than dim sum)

Dim sum is nothing without quality. You really need to know your restaurants to get the most out of these special little dishes. I wasn't a huge fan either until I had proper DS. I had the misfortune of having some terrible examples in Vancouver (along with awesome Chinese restaurants, there are/were some absolutely terrible ones in Vancouver).
Have you been to HK and tried it? Dim sum in HK is something of a ritual for me when I go down there. Mong Kok district at 9am for a feast of 12 different dishes. Life doesn't get any better than that.

[Danma]

Originally Posted by giallo

Dim sum is nothing without quality. You really need to know your restaurants to get the most out of these special little dishes.

^ Must double this. Chicken feet in black bean sauce can be either mind-blowingly good or horrifyingly bad, depending on the chef!

I have trouble believe Vancouver would be topping Hong Kong or Shanghai...